


Beautiful

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Insecure Nathalie Sancoeur, Insecurity, Soft Gabriel Agreste, past toxic relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 02:37:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21172037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Nathalie had never particularly thought she was beautiful.





	Beautiful

Nathalie had never particularly thought she was beautiful.

When she looked in the mirror as a child, she had some optimism. She thought that maybe she _could_ be beautiful if she did something with herself. Say, if she did her hair all fancy, or wore a pretty dress, or used very expensive makeup.

No one had ever told her she was pretty. Sure, some teenage boys had wolf whistled and shouted crude things about her body as she walked by as she got older, but she suspected that that would happen no matter what she looked like. Besides, she didn't much want them to do that. It was frankly disgusting. One of her friends had once vehemently insisted she was cute, brushing her hair out of her face, and told her fervently and repeatedly that she looked very nice.

But it rung hollow. Because it was drowned out.

The first boy she had ever taken interest in, when she was 13. "Nah, you're too plain. Sorry"

Her parents. "God, why the hell are you even trying for prom? No-one's gonna look twice at you even if you dressed up like a whore" "Sweetie, i can't afford makeup for you. Yes, i know _i_ wear it, but that's because mummy always needs to look her best! You don't need to look more than... Well. What you already look like."

Her first boyfriend at 17. "Will you stop fucking staring at me when I'm trying to work? Yeah, i _know_ i promised to take you out today, but I'm busy. You're so petty sometimes, i wonder why i even bother with you. It's not like you're that hot or anything. And your personality is shit. Y'know what? It's over."

Eventually, she stopped caring. Or at the very least, she mostly suppressed her want to care. She made herself look acceptable of course; she was always clean and neat and fit the dress code of whatever occupation to a T, but she didn't much think about her face or body anymore. It had all been internalized, and that's where it could stay as far as she was concerned. Deep down below, underneath.

Unfortunately, those insecurities had to come out eventually.

"Are you sure you want _me_ to model this new dress?" Nathalie asked slowly, staring down at the picture of the dress on her tablet screen. The requested model had pulled out last minute, and he had needed a quick replacement. And thus he had turned to her.

He frowned, peering down at the design himself. "If it's truly such a discomfort, then do not. I am not forcing you. Though i will pay a rather large sum to fill in. Though if the issue is within the dress itself, i would like to know. I don't see any issues myself, but i trust your judgement"

"It isn't..." she huffed and crossed her arms. "The dress looks lovely sir. There isn't anything wrong with it. I simply don't think i should be the one to model it"

He just looked confused. "It's rather modest, attractive, and even blue like your hair. It is also similar to your body type and-"

"My 'body type' isn't the best for modelling" she bit out. "For something like this, you would need someone prettier"

His eyebrows went into his hairline. _"Prettier?"_

Her face went red. "I'm not exactly model-attractive, sir" she looked away, clearly embarrassed.

For his part, he was just stunned into silence. "Not... Model attractive?" he said slowly. "Nathalie, you're beautiful."

Her face went even redder, though for a much different reason. "You don't have to lie to spare my feelings. I accepted it a long time ago."

"Why on earth would i lie? What benefit would that give me?!" he asked incredulously. "You're one of the most attractive women i've known. Emilie once said that she envied your appearance. How could you think you are anything but?"

She was bewildered. "W-what?"

His eyes narrowed. "Have people told you otherwise?"

She swallowed, unsure of how to reply without sounding like a self conscious teenager. It was strange to have someone read her like an open book - to realize so quickly what she was trying not to show.

He stood up and walked over to her. She flinched as his hand cupped her face, his thumb running across her cheek. She felt like she was on fire as she relaxed into his touch.

"No matter what people may say, you're beautiful." he said firmly. "You look wonderful and you always will, both inside and out. You will make that dress look good more than vice versa. That's why i asked you"

She smiled weakly, chest fluttering. "Okay... Thank you"

"You're welcome. You should have heard it sooner"


End file.
